Paradise

This seriously is paradise: fresh coconut/pineapple/and other exotic fruit everywhere, relatively no large spiders, no major predators, fresh chickens wandering around for the taking (read: eating), warm beaches around every bend, and most importantly, the carefree Hawaiian spirit...

I owe it to Beau to say thank you for a great vacation in Kawaii and Oahu!! I had never been on any vacation like this before, and it was well overdue for Beau--he is a hard worker, and while we are very grateful for a such a great job that he enjoys, it does come with heavy hours...and from the family photo on my blog title, you can see why we were the whitest skins on the beach. So...here are a few of my favorite pictures from our vacation. Above, we are at Secret Falls. We kayaked about 2 hours and hiked another 45 minutes to reach this falls. It is unreal.

I've always wanted a picture like this...it didn't turn out very glamourous. Oh well. Kayaking was all that I ever imagined--it was fabulous and it also is a great excercise in building marital communication! One of my favorite parts of trip was finding a freshly fallen coconut right in the water. I stepped out to get it and my leg went down into thigh deep mud...I perservered however, (despite Beau's embarrassment) and brought the coconut home for Keagan and Kaleb. Yeah, you might as well have written 'tourist' on my forehead with a permanent marker. It was incredible!

This will forever be one of my favorite memories of the whole vacation. As we kayaked back from Secret Falls, we passed this barefoot old gentleman singing his heart out and strumming "Brown Eyed Girl" on his ukelele as he soaked in the last rays of the afternoon sun. This must be happiness!

This is Waimea Canyon. We drove to this canyon, which is the biggest canyon in Hawaii. I realize that this picture doesn't give you very much perspective on the magnitute of this beautiful place, but I found the lighting in this photo incredible because it gives the impression that the canyon is under water.

My favorite part of this day was visiting the Dole Pineapple plantation, not only because of the unbelievable pineapple, but because of the cutest little Phillapino man inside the garden. This was the highlight of my visit; he taught us how to grow a pineapple at home:
1. Twist off the top of the pineapple.
2. Set the top in water until the roots form.
3. Set the top in 12"+ of soil.
4. Water every 1/2-2 weeks.
5. Wait.
6. Wait longer.
7. Wait 1 1/2-2 years or until plant is quite large.
8. If no blossoms, cut up an apple and place in the soil around the base of the plant.
9. You will shortly have a blossom, just wait for the pineapple to be the right size.
10. Despite popular belief, a pineapple plant will produce not only 1, but 2 to 3 pineapples!
(I keep forgetting to buy a pineapple for our own little experiment, besides, I'll wait till they are less than $8 a piece.)

This is, of course, my handsome husband! I really like this picture. I'm not quite sure why--he looks so very natural so I don't think he posed for this, also I must be so used to getting this look of bewilderment that I now find it attractive. ?! ha! He loves me.

This is the closest beach picture that you get because we never took the camera when we went to go swimming at the nice beaches. I cannot get over how blue the water is. The water in Alaska is dark compared to this. Once when I was ten my family went to the beach one day for a couple hours in Anaheim, but that was the only time I'd ever been to a real beach. (Alaska beaches don't count...more on this in my next post). Beau and I had so much fun swimming in the water and letting the waves float us around. It was surreal. Oh, and seawater is DISGUSTING! It is so unbelievable salty, I would gag if I accidentally swallowed any. We also went snorkeling and that was well worth the sodium overdose! Surreal.

The most devastating disappointment of the vacation was finding that the Laie temple is closed for 18 months. My sister Nikki has this goal of visiting as many temples possilble in one lifetime, and Beau and I have adopted this goal. I can't decide if we should count this visit or not. I suppose if we don't then we'll have to come back someday right?? Beau? We decided to drive down anyway, and see what was going on. The temple is totally stripped of paint, and Beau and I think they should keep it this way because it looks like a Nephite temple. (My hair is back because it was really windy).

Beau's parents and my parents, Brenden and Nikki, and Jon and Malori were so wonderful to spend time with our boys while we were in Hawaii. Thank you so MUCH! Seriously. The boys still talk of the times they had in Arizona. As you can imagine, we were both very anxious to see Keagan and Kaleb again after 7 days...and they were so excited to see us. They were also so thrilled with their kukui nuts and lavalavas. Here they are doing the New Zealand war dance. Kaleb still (1 month later) will find his necklace and have me tie it on him.

Kaleb was especially happy (and I think mostly relieved) to find his special place on papa's chest.

Merry Christmas!  These are my two favorite pictures from Christmas 2007! The first is absolutely priceless, grandpa and Kaleb were inseparable the entire vacation.  Hopefully we'll get some great ones again this year and put them up soon!  I just wanted everyone to have an absolutely wonderful Christmas!  

Happy Anniversary!

I just wanted to wish a VERY Happy Anniversary to the best parents in the world! I hope that your time together has been as wonderful for you as it has for all of your crazy kids.

The Simple Life is not so Simple and What Century is This?

I I have come to realize that the simple life is not so simple. Let me explain. Beau gave a lesson in priesthood about a year ago and one of the points made in the conference talk (which somehow ended up taped to the refrigerator) was this: "unencumber your life." I think of this often and have taken it to heart because I know that one of the greatest tools the advarsary is using in this day is 'noise.'

I first thought of this concept sitting in my statistics class. Statistics 101. In statistics, the definition of noise is something extraneous--uncontrolled variables which cause errors in the distribution of data. I came to understand the idea a little more concretely in physics, which defines noise as: "a disturbance, especially a random and persistent disturbance that obscures or reduces the clarity of a signal." Basically, "noise" in this sense is meaningless, irrelevant and superfluous information.

As my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ has grown, I have come to recognize that from all directions Satan is sending "noise." It is there at the grocery store in creative packaging, it comes to my mailbox, it blares through the radio, and violates through the tv. Our 'culture of youth' teems with messages of superiority and inferiority.

We live in one of the wealthiest nations in the entire world, yet we are made to feel inferior unless we have a certain gismo, drive a certain car, wear a certain style of clothing, listen to a certain type of music and eat a certain type of food. Its no wonder that the very being who in the beginning wished to deprive us of agency wants us to all be alike, but not only this...he cunningly makes us want to be like "everyone else."

As a result of this ssi, (spiritual space invasion), we are cumbered down with ideals and, more often tangible objects that are meaningless, irrelevant and superfluous. These "random and persistent disturbances obscure the clarity" of an eternal perspective. The perspective that focuses on returning to our Heavenly home clean, and surrounded by nothing else but...our FAMILY.

Satan is clever. Satan uses "things" to steer our minutes, moments, days, and lives away from the literal quiet moments in which the spirit can whisper absolute truth.

Okay, off my soap box and on to the real purpose of this post. The simple life. As a family we have been trying; to simplify. to unencumber. So I have to ask. In regard to physically decluttering, where do you draw the line between the letting go and "I'm going to need this someday", "we have to prepare" attitude. Despite what my husband may say, I am very critical of what comes into my home (both tangible and intangible.)

Ironically, today in Relief Society we talked of Elder Ballard's recent conference talk about 'the simple life' (of which I have listened to four times). He discusses Thorough's experience on Waldon Pond and the true necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing and fuel (particularly spiritual fuel).

Lately I feel like we have been living the simple life. Last week, I chopped the firewood for the stove. I wash my dishes in an old porcelain sink because there is no dishwasher. Also last week we ran out of hot water and I found myself heating water on both stoves for the boys bath. For family home evening we hand cranked our own flour and made bread and Grandpa's Saline's whole wheat pancakes. (To add to this simple life feeling, this beautiful old home we live in has original 1920's wood floors, trim, and decor; and, in our town, there is no Walmart and people gather on downtown street corners and converse in front of the window shops.) But let me just tell you--the simple life is NOT SO SIMPLE! It is rewarding, but it is HARD WORK. We have it SO easy!

The challenge of our day is not to chop firewood and grind flour. The challenge of our day is to remove the 'noise' that is clouding a perfect and eternal perspective of where we came from, why we are here and what we should be doing to get where we are going. It is to unencumber ourselves of ALL the noise that is distracting from progress toward that perfect end--a celestial family.

So I guess I am writing this to me, to remind myself to "simplify, simplify, simplify."